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London’s Gurdwara burnt in
possible racist attack
WSN Bureau
 LONDON:
As flames leapt and smoke billowed out, Sikh hearts cried at the
thought of holy scriptures of Sri Guru Granth Sahib getting burnt
inside this most famous of the London gurdwaras. That it was a
result of a racist attack only added to the pain of the community
and a sense of frustration at a time when Sikhs are struggling to
tell the western world who they are, and how their religion preaches
universal brotherhood.
The two-decade
old Gurdwara Sikh Sangat in
London
was ruined in a fire on Tuesday, and there were many clear
indications that it was a racist attack, coming soon after sangat
noticed racist graffiti on the gurdwara walls. No injuries were
reported.
Eyewitnesses
claim they saw the suspected arsonist -- a black or mixed-race man
-- leave the gurdwara, situated in Harley Grove, Bow,
East London
just before flames erupted in one of the holiest parts of the
gurdwara.
The blaze, which
caused the gurdwara’s roof to collapse, also engulfed all but one of
the eight holy books it had housed. The Evening Standard on Tuesday
quoted a spokeswoman for the London Fire Brigade as saying that 75
percent of the two-storey building and its roof were damaged in the
blaze.
 “It is like one
of my gods is burning down—we worship our holy books as steps to
God,” said one Sikh onlooker.
Ten emergency
crews were mobilized from all over East London to the gurdwara,
after the Fire Brigade received several 999 calls at 2.10pm. Thermal
imaging cameras were used to search the premises for anyone still
inside the gurdwara, but the building was clear.
The police also
closed off the turning off the main
A11 Bow Road
while more than 50 firefighters battled the blaze for almost eight
hours.
Meanwhile, a
Metropolitan police spokesman told another British daily that the
police were treating the incident as suspicious and have launched a
criminal investigation into the incident.
The
fire broke out on the first floor where a women-only prayer session
was being held.
The ten women on
the floor, some of whom noticed the man’s entry into the gurdwara,
said they quickly discovered the fire.
They tried to
put it out but were beaten back by the flames and barely managed to
escape to safety in the street as the flames swept through the
gallery and through the roof of the building.
 Gurpal Singh,
35, an IT worker from Chingford and an eyewitness who worships at
the temple, said, “Somebody did this deliberately. A man came in and
got to the temple's holiest area. He was interrupted by one of the
women and managed to get away. As he ran out, the place went up in
flames. Everyone panicked. The women tried to put out the fire with
buckets of water but it was too fierce.”
Another witness,
Sarah Jesson, assistant manager at the Morgan Arms, said, “There’s
lots of smoke and huge flames coming out the top of the roof.”
Many worshippers
arriving from all over
London
to witness the blaze were close to tears as they watched the flames
sweep through the upper floor of the ornately decorated building.
“It is s
difficult to watch because we know what is in the temple,” said one
worshipper who arrived at the spot noticing a pall of smoke several
streets away.
Kulvinder Singh
Virk, 26, who runs a local off-licence and is also a member of the
temple, said, “This is very personal for us. It's as if a member of
our family has been burnt to death.”
Kamaljet Kaur, a
24-year-old from Stamford Hill, said her aunt was in the temple when
the alleged arsonist struck. “All the women thought he was a robber.
It was only when they got upstairs that they discovered the fire
raging. It is lucky one of them wasn't badly hurt. Often, more than
200 people worship here. Thankfully it was a quiet day,” she said.
One worshipper
said that in the past few weeks he had noticed racist graffiti on
one of the temple's outer walls.
The building of
the Gurdwara Sikh Sangat dates back to 1854 and was formerly a
synagogue and before that a chapel. The gurdwara opened in 1979 and
has been a vital part of the London Sikh community.
18
March 2009
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